Just Like You
by feigningclemency
Summary: Ryou just wants his 'never there' father to come home. Ryou's father just wants his dead wife back. How far will Ryou go to spend time with the only family he has left? Is it enough to make him give up his own identity and become someone else?


A/N: It's almost the start of school again (_groan_) so I am absolutely DESPERATE to have something posted before my freedom is swiped before my very eyes and I never get the chance to write another fic ever again. It's the start of High School for me and my pals, so I'm nervous, nervous, NERVOUS!!! 

Yesiree! I'm going to be a FRESHMAN!!! _throws confetti_

Anyway, sorry if this fic's kinda… weird? I wrote this when I was in grade 6 but I never actually finished it. I forgot all about it until I started browsing through my 'never to see the light of day' fics outta boredom and found this. Hehe… _stupid grin _And the characters probably sound OOC since I haven't been in the Yu-Gi-Oh! vibe lately, but oh well.

And does anyone actually know what Ryou's dad looks like? If so, I'm sorry if my description of him is wrong. Just… don't kill me for it, please? If you flame me for this, that's fine. I accept flames with (slightly) open arms.

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.****

Just Like You

The sky was an orange-pinkish hue as the sun began to set behind a plain grassy hill, far away from the city and tall buildings. There stood three-year old Ryou Bakura, the sunset reflecting in his chocolate brown eyes and his white hair blowing in a calm yet chilling breeze. Beside him stood a tall and beautiful woman, with long hair as white as his and eyes a deep shade of emerald green. Their shadows were cast on to a gravestone placed before them, adorned with fresh white roses, incense, and candles.

The woman, Ryou's mother, knelt down and placed a hand on the gravestone. "Hello, honey," she said, almost in a whisper as her hand traced over the rough surface. "I came for a visit today, just like I promised you." She motioned with her hands for Ryou to come closer to the gravestone. Ryou knelt down beside his mother and placed his hand on the rough surface as well. "I thought it was about time our dear son finally met you."

Ryou blinked and looked up at his mother. "Mommy," he said, tugging at her skirt. "Who are you talking to? All I see is a rock."

Ryou's mother smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "Oh, Ryou," she cooed, her voice burdened with a slight pity for him. "I nearly forgot, this is the first time you've seen your father, isn't it?"

Ryou looked back at his mother with a confused look on his face. "You mean… daddy's a rock?" Ryou crossed his arms and pouted. "No wonder all the other kids make fun of me," he said. "They say I don't have a daddy, when I really do except he's a rock!"

Ryou's mother couldn't help it but to chuckle at this silly comment. "Ryou, your father's not a rock," she managed to explain to him. "Your father is…" She gave a sigh. "Your father is dead. He's UNDER the rock."

Ryou put his hand under his chin and closed his eyes for a while. "We learned about the word 'dead' in school today. I know what it means," Ryou said, a proud look in his face. "It's supposed to mean that someone's asleep for a long time, and won't wake up… Right?"

Ryou's mother nodded her head solemnly. "Yes, Ryou... It's exactly like that…" She couldn't think of what to say after that.

Ryou looked up at his mother. "Am I ever going to get a new daddy, mommy?" he asked her innocently. "I don't wanna be the only kid in school with no daddy. The other kids make fun of me."

Ryou's mother closed her eyes, and gave her son a hug. "Only time will tell, Ryou…" Droplets of tears started to fall from the corners of her eyes. "I'm so sorry…"

**(justlikeyoujustlikeyoujustlikeyou)**

A six-year old Ryou Bakura was sitting down on a white plastic chair located outside the Hospital's E.R. He swung his legs back and forth, indicating that he was bored out of his mind. Suddenly, the doors of the E.R. swung open, and out came a man with dark hair and deep black eyes covered by metal framed glasses. Following him were several doctors and nurses. All had worried looks on their faces.

Ryou smiled and jumped off his chair. He ran towards the man and gave him a hug. "Daddy, daddy!" he squealed. "Where's mommy? Where's Amane? Where, where, where?!" He jumped up and down impatiently. "Can I see them now, daddy? Can I?"

The man's face stayed serious, and Ryou could sense that something was wrong. He stopped jumping up and down. "Daddy?" he said in an almost frightened tone. "What happened to mommy and Amane?"

Ryou's father sighed, and placed a firm hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Son…" He said it in a terrified voice, as if he was almost too hesitant and afraid to speak. "Something… bad happened while your mother was giving birth…"

**(justlikeyoujustlikeyoujustlikeyou)**

A nine-year old Ryou Bakura came running into the study his father worked in. He held a pencil and a piece of paper firmly in his hand. His father sat in front of a desk with a sad expression on his face and his hands running through his hair, as if frustrated. He was hunched over something, which Ryou couldn't define what.

"Hey, dad, you think you can help me out with my Math homework?" he asked, shoving the paper towards his father. "I know you keep telling me that self-learning's an important key to growing smarter," he said sheepishly. "But I just can't figure it out."

His father sighed, not taking his eyes off whatever it was he was concentrating so hard on. "If your mother was still with us, I'm sure she would've been able to help. She was the math genius in this family, not I."

Ryou rolled his eyes. _'This isn't about mom, dad. This is about me.'_ But he thought it wiser to not say so. "Yeah, well… Do you think you could still try to help me anyway?"

Ryou's father shook his haid. "I'm sorry, son," he said. "Why don't you try asking one of your friends? I'm sure they know the answer."

'_Oh sure, dad. Like I have any friends in the first place. But then again, you're always too busy with your job to notice what's going on in your son's life. Geez, Ryou. How stupid could you have been to forget? Stupid, stupid, stupid…'_

The look on Ryou's face would've told anyone how hurt he had felt that time, but it was too bad his dad wasn't facing him. "Y-yeah, dad…" he said before heading towards the door, slouching slightly while he walked. "Thanks anyway…"

As soon as Ryou closed the door behind him, he allowed a single tear to fall from the corner of his eye.

He wasn't crying because his dad refused to even _try_ and help him with his Math homework. (But it did add to the pain.)

It was because he made sure to peep over his dad's shoulder and see what he had been hunched over before leaving,

It was a picture of his mother.

**(justlikeyoujustlikeyoujustlikeyou)**

It was already December, and a twelve-year old Ryou Bakura was sitting at the foot of the Christmas tree, wrapping presents. He brushed aside a strand of long white hair. _'I guess my hair's grown longer than I thought,' _Ryou thought to himself. _'It makes me look kinda like mom, right before she-'_

The doorbell rang, cutting off Ryou's thoughts. He put down a roll of wrapping paper and swung open the door, only to be greeted by, who would have guessed it, his foster father.

"Ryou, my boy!" his father exclaimed in a rough voice. "It's so good to finally see you again!" He put Ryou into a tight embrace before striding into the house. "How's the old house been?" he asked. "It looks like you've done some cleaning by packing up all the useless furniture. There seems to be more space than when I last stayed here."

"Which was about three years ago, dad," Ryou said, trying his best not to sound too mad at his father. _'It's that blasted job of his,' _Ryou thought to himself. _'He never has time for me anymore…'_

Ryou's father was an archeologist and left Japan to stay in different countries for about three years. Recently he had come back from Egypt. Usually he'd stick around for a few weeks, or even just days when he wasn't needed. But after his short visits, it was always time to go back to work.

Ryou had no problem with his father, except that he was always left alone in the house when he was away on another one of his trips. He was sick of being lonely all the time. He wanted his dad to stay here with him, just like all the other kids at school. Sure, his dad would send money and loads of souvenirs every time he went somewhere, but he didn't want any of that. All he wanted was the only he parent he had left.

Ryou's father looked at him. "Oh, come now, son! Don't be such a wet blanket!" he said as he placed his bags by the stairs which lead to the second floor. "I'm home just in time for Christmas! Isn't that something to be thankful for?"

Ryou sighed. _'He has a point…' _he told himself. "So… What made you decide to come home early this year?" he asked.

Ryou's father thought for a while. "I suppose I just thought that I wasn't spending enough time with you, that's all."

Ryou was shocked for a while. Did his dad really leave such an important job all the way in Egypt just because he wanted to spend time with his son? Ryou told himself he probably shouldn't be so mad, until-

"You know, you're starting to look so much like your mother." Ryou's father said. "It must be your hair. It has an extreme likeness to her's… After she passed away, that is."

Yeah, that was it.

'_Knew it was too good to be true__…' _Ryou thought to himself. _'He didn't come home because he wanted to spend time with me… He wanted to come home because I remind him of mom…Because I look like mom…'_ Ryou could feel tears forming at the corner of his eyes again, but he made sure not to let them fall.

'_To him, it was always about mom__…'_

**(justlikeyoujustlikeyoujustlikeyou)**_  
_

"I thought your dad wasn't coming home for the holidays this year?"

"He usually doesn't. But he's been making some effort to stick around lately. He even made sure to come home in time for Halloween. And he hates that holiday."

Yugi Motou and Ryou Bakura were currently sitting on the Bakura residents' living room couch. The both of them were still in their school uniforms and each was holding a pen and a piece of paper with questions typed on them. Beside the couch was the traditional Christmas Tree Ryou had been setting up every Christmas, decorated in colorful lights while trunk of the tree was buried in several presents.

"Okay…" Ryou shifted his position slightly and scratched the side of his head with his pen. He looked at his paper. "When _P _multiplied by _x_ is divided by _x _minus 1, the remainder is 3. When divided by _x_ plus 2, the remainder is 6. When divided by _x_ minus 3, the remainder is 11. Find the remainder when _P _multiplied by_ x_ is divided by _x _minus 1 multiplied by _x _plus 2 multiplied by _x _minus 3."

The boys looked at each other with a quizzical look on both their faces.

"… Algebra should come with subtitles. How are we supposed to understand this?"

"Well, it makes sense to say that the quotient should be _Q_ multiplied by _x_ and the remainder be _a_ and _x_ squared plus _b_ multiplied by _x_ minus _c_ since the divisor is a third degree expression. So, if we write it down, it should probably say something like _P_ multiplied by _x_ equals _x_ plus 1 multiplied by-"

"_Ryou!_"

Ryou shrugged. "Hey, _you_ were the one who asked me."

Yugi shook his head and sighed. "Let's… Let's just skip this and go to question number seven."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's smart. Let's skip it. Just like we skipped question number one and two and three and four…"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and both boys turned their heads towards the door.

Ryou's father stepped in, carrying several grocery bags with him. "Glad to see you're home, Ryou. I just came from the grocery store and I was wondering if-" He stopped in mid-sentence as his eyes fell upon Yugi. He grinned from ear to ear. "Ryou, I didn't know you were having a friend over!" he said cheerfully.

Ryou smiled. "Dad, this is Yugi. Yugi, my dad," he said, gesturing one to the other.

Yugi grinned meekly. "Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Bakura," he said with a small wave.

"Yugi, did you say?" Ryou's father beamed. "It's nice to finally meet you, Yugi! Ryou's been talking non-stop about you during my latest visit here. It's good to know that my son finally has a friend," he said in an eager voice.

"Pleasure's all mine, Mr. Bakura. You're son's a great guy," Yugi said politely.

Ryou's father seemed to shine with pride after Yugi had said that. "Yes, I know. In fact, he's just like his mother. The same eye color, the same smarts, the same thoughtful attitude… Even his hair looks the same since he's stopped cutting it." He glanced over at the papers being held in the boys' hands. "Ryou's pretty good at Math too. (Yugi rolled his eyes. _'I'll bet he is…'_) You know, his mother-"

"Was the Math genius in this family. I _know_, dad. You've told me a thousand times before." _'No need to remind me again…'_

Ryou's father shrugged. "Ah, well, I guess I shouldn't interrupt you boys with my rambling anyway. Not while you're doing your homework." And with that, he headed up the stairs. "I'll be in my room if you need anything."

As soon as Ryou's father was out of sight, Yugi glared at Ryou. "That was a pretty harsh tone to use on your dad, Ryou. Considering that he just came all the way from Egypt to spend the holidays with you."

"He didn't come all the way from Egypt to spend the holidays with _me,_ okay?!" Ryou yelled. Yugi jumped backwards slightly. Ryou was a quiet type of person. He never gets mad. _Never._

Ryou's fast-paced breathing quickly slowed down. He sighed. "He… he didn't come to spend the holidays with me…" he said shakily. "He came to spend the holidays with… with mom…"

"But I thought your mom-"

"Was dead?" Ryou snapped. "She's not dead. She lives… in me… At least to my dad, she does." Ryou could feel the tears coming back. He blinked a few times to make them go away. "It sucks, you know? Having to live in the shadow of someone else… Especially if that someone else is your _mother_, of all people. I mean, I'm not even a girl."

Yugi couldn't help but chuckle at that last comment. Ryou did too. _'Well, at least he smiled,'_ Yugi told himself.

The both of them remained silent for a while before Yugi spoke up again.

"Why?"

Ryou cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"You know what I mean," Yugi said. "Why do you have to… I dunno, _pretend_ to be your mom anyway?"

Ryou turned his head away from Yugi and stared out a window near the door,as if deep in thought in his own world. "'Cuz it's the only way to get dad to stay here…" he mused softly. "He doesn't miss me. He misses mom. And if being mom is what'll keep me from being lonely, then that's what I'll do."

Yugi placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder, while Ryou had managed to divert his gaze from the window and to Yugi's face. Yugi smiled at him. "Hey," he said in a friendly voice. "I'm here, right? And I don't ask you to act like anyone else but yourself," he said. "You sure you're still lonely?"

Ryou smiled, and realized that what Yugi had said was right. Yugi didn't ask him to act a certain way for them to be friends. Yugi liked him the way he was, and knowing that felt great.

'_It does feel nice, doesn't it?' _Ryou thought to himself_. 'To know that you're wanted and loved… Just 'cuz you're being what you've always wanted to be your entire life…_

_Your own person__…'_

Ryou smiled. "Thanks, Yugi. _A lot_."

Yugi returned the smile and shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? It's Christmas."

**End**

A/N: Er… Don't ask me why they've still got homework when the holidays are near, 'cuz even I don't know. Hehe…

And I hope the Math question made sense. Yes, it is a real question I got from one of my worksheets. So don't tell me I just asked an impossible question, otherwise you're calling my school stupid. :))

This is based on a true story, and is (sorta) dedicated to someone who had to change _a lot _for the parents. And to all those reading this, please don't judge others before you get to know them first. Some people may do some pretty stupid things, but for all you know, it's probably just their way of trying to get the attention they _unfairly_ lack. If their uniqueness or difference isn't hurting anyone (including themselves), please just learn to accept them for who they are without making them the butt of your jokes and criticism. Trust me, some have had enough of that from everyone else.

Thanks. Review please! It would make me very happy!


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